First Christmas at Beacon
by dusty-old-krow
Summary: Weiss doesn't understand what all the fuss about Christmas, Ruby is determined to show her
1. Chapter 1-

**Authors note: This is going to be my first fic, I know it's short but it was kind of a last-minute decision, I will be attempting to publish a new chapter every day from now until the 24th. If I can stick to that plan is something else entirely. Anyway I hope you enjoy it, leave a review if you want, it'll really help me out.**

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It's Christmas time in Vale, a time of wonder and joy with magic in the air. The spirit of giving was in everyone's heart… at least that's what Ruby kept telling her but Weiss wasn't entirely convinced. Sure they celebrated the holiday in Atlas but if anything it was just a slightly more depressing than usual with her Father being gone the entire day at charity events only to come home half-drunk and furious about some perceived slight. Her father also taught her and her siblings that expecting things from others or giving freely from the kindness of our heart was a sign of weakness and so they weren't allowed to give or receive gifts. Her first memory of Christmas was actually her attempting to give her father a handmade snowflake ornament. She was so proud of herself and excited to give it to him. He threw it in the trash and grounded her for a month, after that she never really cared about the Holiday.

Ruby definitely did care about the holiday. Ever since the first of the month, Ruby was a growing bundle of excitement seemingly tapping into an unending source of holiday spirit. She'd erected a tree in front of the window in their shared room and roped the entire team into decorating it. Yang was almost as into the whole thing as Ruby but not quite, it was very difficult to match the reapers' enthusiasm, and even the usually aloof Blake seemed to be more jovial and energetic.

Weiss was pulled out her thoughts as there was suddenly a face mere inches from her own. She stared into Ruby's silver orbs for a second.

"Can I help you, Ruby"

"Weiiisssss you aren't helping" she whined while thrusting an ornament into her hand, it was a snowman and obviously made by a child with its eyes being two different sizes and its carrot nose being more of a shapeless blob"  
Weiss sighed and pushed the bauble back into Ruby's hands "I already told you, I don't care about Christmas and I'm not going to help decorate this affront onto the interior design that you've dragged in here."

She wasn't ready for the look of horror and sadness that briefly overcame Ruby's usually cheerful face "But Wiess, Christmas is the second-best holiday! Second only to my Birthday Week!" Suddenly her eyes sparkled "I know! I'll prove it to you. There are twelve days from now before till Christmas eve and I swear on my mother's grave that by then you'll like it just as much as I do."

Weiss just rolled her eyes "Don't waste your time, it's not a big deal. Who cares If I'm missing out on all of this 'holiday cheer' you've surely got enough for the both of us."

Ruby seemingly oblivious to the slight dig at her continued on "Nonsense, there's no such thing as too much holiday cheer." Suddenly Ruby jumped back, planted one hand on her hip and pointed at Weiss with the other "As your team leader I order you to humor me and at least attempt to get involved." and with that as if the matter was completely settled she once again tossed the sad excuse for a snowman back at Weiss and went back to decorating the tree.

Weiss sighed heavily, once Ruby got this way about something it was basically impossible to change her mind about it. She turned the ornament over in her hands, on the bottom ball that made up the base of the snowman was the name Ruby and a 4 written in a permanent marker, the R was backward. Figuring she might as well get this over with she got off her bed and went to go join in on the chaos that the rest of her team was calling 'decorating'.


	2. Chapter 2- A Batch of New Experiences

**AN: So I already missed a day... but it's fine because I accidentally posted the first chapter a day early so technically I'm still on schedule. Anyway, this chapter is a little bit longer than the last one, partly because I included a little conclusion to chapter 1 because I wasn't super happy with how I ended it. This chapter also is more dialogue-heavy because I'm not particular good at it and practice makes perfect.**

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The decorating was... fun? If she had to describe it she would probably go with fun. She didn't feel festive and the fun had nothing to do with the actual decoration. The act of placing an ornament on a dead piece of scenery wasn't in itself anything special or fun but for all of team RWBY's faults, you couldn't say they weren't entertaining. The entire time Yang loudly told the stories behind all of the ornaments much to Ruby's delight and sometimes embarrassment. Weiss's personal favorite was about a family portrait in the middle of a snowflake. The picture was taken years ago when Ruby was about two or three and Yang was around five. Yang was missing one of her front teeth but that didn't stop her from smiling ear to ear, her hair while not quite as long as it is now was still an unruly mess. Ruby who was pouting severely was being held like a sack of potatoes under a woman's arm, the woman looked incredibly similar to Ruby now. The woman, their mother Summer, had her other arm around their father with Yang standing proudly in front of them. Zwei was bouncing excitedly at their feet looking much smaller and cuter than he does now, Weiss already thought he was the cutest thing on earth so seeing him as a puppy was quite the sight. The whole scene was ruined slightly by the finger covering the top right corner. According to Yang, this was the last family photo they had before their mother died and it was a true family photo as the finger belonged to their uncle. Ruby was pouting because they drug her away from a plate of cookies for the picture. The girl in question had the decency to look a bit embarrassed at that tidbit of information. The rest of the decorating went by quickly and devolved into Yang regaling them all with various stories of her and Ruby's childhood. She didn't press Blake or Weiss to share and instead was content to be the center of attention. The rest of the night carried on like that before everyone went to bed. Ruby warren Wiess once again how she was going to make her see how great Christmas was and that she was going to start tomorrow. Weiss slept with a mixed sense of trepidation and excitement.

Day 2

The day was exactly the same as always so far. It was nearly 6 PM and Ruby hadn't made good on her promise yet. For the first half of the day, Wiess assumed that Ruby had forgotten and eventually it slipped her mind. Until Ruby came out of the bathroom dressed in festive pajamas and through a matching set at her and demanded she put them on. The clothes weren't hideous and felt quite soft so she gave in, excusing herself to the bathroom to change. Ruby was waiting for her to come out and immediately grabbed her by the hand and started heading towards the door.

"Ruby wait, where are we going?"

"The kitchen!" she enthusiastically answered while throwing Weiss a blinding smile.

"Why'd you make me put on pajamas then?"

"Because duh, you can't make Christmas cookies without wearing your comfiest, fluffiest Christmas themed clothes." she shook her head like she couldn't believe Wiess would ask such a stupid question "Everyone knows that!"

Figuring it pointless to continue arguing Wiess let herself be dragged towards the kitchen. The kitchen was a communal one for the floor, not that many people used it. Ren and Jaune were the only people Weiss ever saw in there. Today it seemed that Ruby had spent some time here prepping. The counter and stovetop were littered with all kinds of various ingredients.

"We're going to be making the best cookies ever, reserved only for the Christmas season!."

"Best cookies ever huh? I had one of the highest-ranked bakers in all of Atlas available to make me anything I wanted, I doubt you'll be able to make anything better than that."

"Okay, first, you doubt that WE won't be able to make anything better. Second, we totally can, will, and are."

"Well with that astoundingly stellar argument, let's get started."

Ruby didn't need any more prompting and rushed off in a flurry of petals. Within seconds there were multiple bowls and spoons on the table in front of Weiss. Ruby blurred into existence again holding two bags under her arm and a stick of butter. "Okay, first things first, combine these" she thrust the ingredients at Weiss "In that" She pointed to a bowl on the table "Oh and here are the amounts," she said as she fished a very old looking piece of paper out of her pocket. "Get started on that while I preheat the oven."

Weiss took the sheet and measured out the amounts required before running into a problem.

"Hey Ruby, it says to use a mixer to make sure it's blended well enough, but I don't see one out here."

"Oh, that's because I always just use my semblance instead."

Returning from the oven Ruby pulled a whisk out of a drawer and stuck it into the bowl. Using her left arm to brace the bowl against her chest, her right began whirling around the bowl at the same speed Ruby could run. After a few seconds, the concoction was smooth and creamy just like the recipe said. When she was done with that she placed the bowl back down and grabbed the recipe from Weiss "Next add two eggs and a teaspoon of vanilla." she read off.

Weiss obliged, measuring out a teaspoon of vanilla and pouring it in before grabbing two eggs out of the carton dropping them into the mixture as well. With her task complete she waited for Ruby to read off the next step, after a few seconds of silence she turned to see what the problem was. Ruby was staring down into the completely bewildered.

"What's wrong Ruby?"

Slowly the rose drug her eyes from the bowl up to Weiss, never once changing her expression. She stared straight at her for a few seconds, unblinking, before speaking.

"Weiss… have you ever even been inside a kitchen before?"

"What kind of question is that of course I have!" the heiress responded indignantly.

"Alright, let me rephrase that, have you ever prepared food before?"

"Of course not, a Schnee doesn't waste their time doing such trivial things." She boasted with her usual pride, it faltered right after when Ruby started giggling. Before long the giggling became full-on laughter and the reaper was clutching the counter struggling for breath.

"Why're you laughing? Was that somehow funny to you?"

Still trying to recover, but at least no longer laughing Ruby replied "No, no, it wasn't that. It's just that it's so, so you to not know how to do something as basic as baking cookies."

"I still don't see the problem? I did what the recipe said!"

This almost set Ruby off into another laughing fit. "Weiss you have to crack the eggs first, you can't just put the shells in." she managed to get out between giggles.

Weiss' face immediately flushed in embarrassment and she quickly grabbed the two, whole eggs, out of the bowl and shoved them towards Ruby "Here you do it then, and I'll read the directions off and hand you the ingredients."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want you to get confused and end up poisoning us or something," Ruby said as she cracked the eggs into the bowl, giving Weiss a pointed look the entire time.

"Not funny"

"It kinda is"

Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose and read out the next step, it was going to be a long night if this kept up.

The rest of the ingredients were combined with no issues. With Weiss' instruction and Ruby's expertise the dough never even stood a chance. Then ten minutes later the oven dinged signaling that the treats were done. Weiss was very skeptical as Ruby removed the cookies from the oven. They didn't look appetizing at all. They were more vaguely round mounds than they were cookies.

"Now we just have to let them cool for a few minutes and we can dig in!" Ruby exclaimed

"Yeah… I can't wait…" Weiss, much less enthusiastically exclaimed. Ruby, of course, was oblivious to this.

"Me either, When I was little these things were always my favorite part of the holidays. Some of my only real, vivid memories of my mom are me helping her make these, according to Dad they're my mom's super-secret family recipe."

With a slight panic, Ruby grabbed onto Weiss' arm "So don't tell anyone! It's for family only!"

"Then why were you so okay showing it to me."

"Because you're family!" she emphasized the point by wrapping Weiss in a massive hug, leaving the Heiress speechless and blushing furiously. She was thrust out of the embarrassment by Ruby handing her one of the cookies while simultaneously biting into one of her own. The girl in red scarfed down three before Wiess even took a bite of one.

Seeing Ruby enjoy them so much convinced Weiss to finally take a bite. She was pleasantly surprised that they did indeed taste good, not as good as some of her cooks made back home but for some odd reason she liked these better.

"So what do you think, like'em better than what those fancy pants Atlas bakers can do?"

"No" Weiss tried to keep the corners of her mouth from pulling up into a smirk but judging by the sparkle in Ruby's eyes she failed.

"She I told you so!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Your mom must have been an awesome baker then."

"Yep, she was! Summer Rose, baker of cookies and slayer of monsters," she said while giving Weiss another hug, this one she was prepared for and instead of standing there like a board she hugged back, albeit with much less force.

Weiss didn't have the heart to tell her that the 'old rose family recipe' was exactly the same as the one she saw on the back of the oats container except they had added crushed walnuts and chocolate chips.

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**AN: I find the idea of Weiss being completely incompetent at regular everyday things to be extremely funny because really she would have had no reason to ever cook for herself and probably wouldn't have had the desire to do it for fun. **

**The cookie recipe is a real one, it's found on the back of Quaker oats containers or on their website (Not sponsored by quaker oats) and yes my mom makes these every year around Christmas and I didn't realize that it was literally a generic oatmeal cookie recipe with some added chocolate and nuts until I was about fifteen.**


	3. Chapter 3- Packages Boxes and Bags

**Alright, so 3 chapters in and I've already fallen behind on the timetable I set for myself twice. The original plan was to write one chapter a day each day until Christmas but life and work keeps getting in the way of my writing time so I probably won't be able to do that, I'm still going to try but yeah the original 12 chapter plan for this might not actually happen or it will but the timing will be off and the final few chapters might be after Christmas. Either way, it doesn't actually matter too much.**

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"Hey Weiss, whatcha doin?" Ruby asked as she leaned over Weiss who was played back on her bed with a textbook in front of her.

"I'm studying."

"Why? The semester just ended."

"Because this is an esteemed Institute of learning and it wouldn't do to slack just because classes aren't in session."

"Pffft, lame! Come to Vale with me instead. I've got some shopping I need to do."  
"Why would I want to do that?"

"Are you trying to say that you prefer doing homework over spending quality time with your best friend/partner."

Weiss shot her a flat look "Yes, Yes I am."

Ruby flopped back landing on Weiss's legs an arm over her eyes the other one clutching to her chest "oh you wound me, my own partner how could you be so cruel."

"I'm sure you'll live," Weiss smirked over her textbook.

Ruby sighed and sat up squeezing in shoulder to shoulder on the bed, forcing Weiss into the wall "Come on, I'll just sit here and bother you until you agree"

"And do you really think that your patience can outlast mine?"

Yang who was sitting on her bed on the other side of the room snorted, "I think you're vastly underestimating how obnoxious she can be."

Ruby beamed "See Yang has faith in me."

The blonde laughed "That wasn't a compliment Rubes."

Ruby stuck her tongue out at her before turning back to Weiss and latching onto her arm like a leech and in doing so knocking the book out of her hands.

"And I think you're completely underestimating just how benign and tedious attending business meeting with my father was. I have an endless well of patience," and with that picked up the book with just her right-hand content to sacrifice the other to Ruby. This worked right up until she needed to turn the page. She sat for a second trying to subtly pry her other hand out of Ruby's grasp but each time she started moving the reaper would latch on tighter.

Ruby had definitely noticed her predicament if her smirk was anything to go by "Having problems?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Weiss you've been staring at this page for 5 minutes, I've managed to read it twice so you should've been able to at least ten times."

"It's a very informational and important page, I'm simply making sure I have fully digested the material."

"Uh-huh,"

The page was decidedly not very important at all since it was a chapter introduction and only really talked about what was going to be explored in the chapter.

"Here let me help," Ruby said as she reached out towards the book.

Weiss watched her warily but let her continue. In hindsight she really should've seen it coming. Instead of turning the page Ruby 'accidentally' knocked it out of Weiss's hand sending it tumbling into the crack between the wall and the bed.

"Oh gosh, How silly of me."

"Ruby"

"Yes, Weiss?"

"You win, let's go."

Weiss had planned on accepting the offer the entire time but it was always good for Ruby to have to work for her attention from time to time.

The ride to Vale was quick and painless, it was a little late for most people to be heading out but still to early for others to be heading back so they got the entire bullhead to themselves.

"So what was it you needed it to get?" Weiss finally decided to ask as they left the bullhead station.

"Christmas shopping! I need to get presents for Yang and Blake."

"What, not getting anything for me, your dearest partner?"

"Oh don't worry, I didn't forget you. I bought your gift already!" Ruby who was walking a few steps ahead of Weiss spun around "What about you? Have you gotten your Christmas shopping done yet?"

"No."

"Then you can get it done today too."

"What's even the point? Let's say I spend my time and money buying something and you don't like it, then you either tell me you don't like it or you pretend. In the first scenario, we both end up unhappy, in the second only you are. It would just be easier to give you the money at that point so you could use it on whatever you want but I've been told that's frowned upon."

Ruby didn't look convinced, "Yeah I guess you could look at it like that but doesn't it make you feel good whenever it DOES work out?"

Wiess didn't know, she'd never given someone a gift before, it just didn't really happen back home. Thankfully she didn't have to broach that concept with Ruby as they rounded the corner and the Vale Mall came into view. "Well, we're here so why don't we just get this over with."

Nobody ever accused Ruby of having a long attention span and arriving at their destination was enough to divert her. "Okay, first things first. Picking up some parts for Bumble-Bee that I ordered."

"What kind of parts?"

"Oh, I have no idea, Yang just mentioned them a while ago for some upgrades she wanted to make, doesn't really matter if I know what they are or not. She will." and with that Ruby skipped off towards a storefront called The Dusty Muffler. Weiss decided to wait outside since cars and motorcycles weren't really her cup of tea. Unfortunately being left alone brought up the question she'd been asking herself for most of the trip, should she be getting gifts for the rest of her team? Ruby apparently was and Yang probably would be as well. She couldn't quite see Blake going out of the way to buy gifts for anyone so it probably wouldn't be weird if she didn't but if both Yang and Ruby are then she'd feel at least a little guilty if she didn't. During her contemplation, she didn't notice Ruby coming out of the store.

"Remnant to Weiss" Ruby said while waving her in front of Weiss's face.

Weiss's face flushed at being caught zoning out "Oh, that was fast, did you get the parts?"

"Yup," Ruby lifted a bad in front of her, now onto Blake!"

"What do you have in mind for her."

"I'm thinking about getting her a new bow, she's always wearing that same one and I just think it would be nice if she changed it up every now and again."

"Hmm, I guess she might like that, I would've suggested a book but I'm not even sure where she gets that, that FILTH from and wouldn't lower myself to that level anyway."

Ruby laughed at her dig at their friend "Yeah I tried reading one of those that she thinks she hides under her bed… I didn't really understand what was happening but it made me very uncomfortable."

Weiss's already naturally pale face became even paler "Please tell me you put it back and didn't think about it too hard?"

Ruby threw both her hands up "That's exactly what Blake said whenever I asked her about it! Why won't anyone just tell me why the protagonist said 'now that's a Katana' when her friend took his pants off! Could you explain it to me?"

Weiss words died on her lips, then their carcass got caught in her throat causing her to start coughing. "Don't... don't worry-" She stopped and narrowed her eyes at the smirk Ruby had.

This caused Ruby's facade to crack and she started laughing "Come on Weiss, I'm fifteen, not five, I know what Blakes books are about."

"Oh thank god, I did NOT want to have that particular conversation in the middle of a mall."

"Don't worry, Yang had that with me a few years ago, but it did cheer you up."

"Excuse me?"

"When I came out of the shop you seemed worried or sad about something."

"Oh, no it was nothing… but thanks anyway."

"No problem Weiss! Now let's go get Blake a new Bow."

Damn it, she definitely had to get Ruby a gift now.

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**I think this one might have been even more dialogue-heavy than the last one, the plan I have for chapter four should shake that up but who knows, maybe I'll find a way to accidentally do it anyway.**


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